Haydn: String Quartets Op. 33, Nos. 3, 4 And 6

Kodaly Q

Regular: £11.49

Sale: £11.49
Regular

Out of Stock

Unit Price: per

Cat No: 8550789

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 730099578929

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: HAYDN

Description
Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)Russian QuartetsJungfernquartetteJoseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the son of awheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna,he spent some years earning a living as best he could from teaching and playingthe violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora,whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 asKapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in1761 by employment as Vice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in theEmpire, Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, succeeded on his death in 1762 by hisbrother Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 of the elderly and somewhatobstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydn succeeded to his position, toremain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest of his life.On the completion under the new Prince of the magnificent palace atEsterhaza, built on the site of a former hunting-lodge set on the Hungarianplains, Haydn assumed command of an increased musical establishment. Here he hadresponsibility for the musical activities of the palace, which included theprovision and direction of instrumental music, opera and theatre music, andmusic for the church. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music ofall kinds, particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, abowed string instrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.On the death of Prince Nikolaus in 1790, Haydn was able to accept aninvitation to visit London, where he provided music for the concert seasonorganized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successful visit toLondon in 1794 and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with the Esterhazyfamily, the new head of which had settled principally at the family property inEisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career. Much of the year, however, wasto be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passed his final years, dying in 1809, as theFrench armies of Napoleon approached the city yet again.Haydn completed his Opus 33 quartets in 1781 and before their publicationoffered manuscript copies on subscription to a number of leading patrons, ofwhose interest he was assured. The Russian Quartets take their name fromtheir performance in the presence of the Russian Grand Duke Paui, later TsarPaul II, with his wife, visiting Vienna under the names of the Count andCountess von Norden and accompanied by members of the family of the GrandDuchess, the ruling family of W??rttemberg. The quartets were played, in thepresence of the composer, by Luigi Tomasini, Franz Aspeimayr, Thaddaus Huberand the cellist Joseph Weigi.The Quartet in C major, Opus 33, No.3, is known as The Bird fromthe grace notes that embellish its principal theme, played by the first violin,an element that re-appears as the movement continues. The second movement, ascherzando that replaces the earlier Minuet, an expression of the new mood ofOpus 33, pres
Tracklisting